The rolling waves of love
by Phoenixflower17
Summary: A young woman working on a grand ship called the SS Titanic 2, doesn't know how to live a happy life, until she meets the charming Jack Dawson. But will this be a love affair, or does Jack have a dark secret and purpose for being on board?
1. The ship set's sail

Chapter one the ship sets sail.

"All aboard!" The sailor cried as he lead the passengers onto the boat. It was a fine day out at sea. The waves where calm, the dolphin's dove out of the water making the sea lively, and the SS Titanic 2 was about ready to set sail for London England. The captain stood at the edge of his ship and watched as the crowds of happy looking people boarded his prized boat. By his side was his first mate Nathan. Nathan looked down at the people boarding as he clenched his megaphone in his hands. "Isn't this a beautiful day Nathan?" Asked the captain. "Yes captain John, it's very beautiful out here. I never thought the ocean could be so calm sir." John was a very respected man by all who knew him. He was never one to laugh at a joke or be the one joking. He was always the silent serious type, (but perhaps to serious.) He had been a captain for over 45 years sailing ocean's from the Pacific, to the Arctic. He loved the ocean with all his heart. His wife Eve died a long time ago of a heart attack and left him alone with no one to sail with. His dream was to sail with his wife for the rest of his life but since her death, he has been depressed and angry with the world around him.

"Come now Nathan, let us now prepare for the departure. "Ordered captain John. Nathan followed him to the first deck to prepare for the departure.

On the other side of the boat, a young woman was preparing to start her daily job. Her name was Kate. She was the captain's young niece who worked for him to make a living, while getting into medical school. She had dark brown hair, matching eyes, and wasn't very tall. She was about nineteen years old, and started working for her uncle at the age of sixteen. She, like her uncle, was also a person who took life seriously. She had a hard time having fun always constantly working or trying to find work, hardly cracking a smile to any good joke. She was however very sweet and kind to all she met. She didn't have many friends but two. The first one was a girl named Sarah. She was her younger sister who traveled all over the world as a marine biologist. She would occasionally stop by the boat if it was near and would visit Kate and at the same time teach the younger passenger's about the world beneath the waves. Sarah was the opposite of Kate, she was very cheerful but still maintained a serious face as well. I guess you can say, she was more balanced than Kate was. Sarah had a boyfriend that lived in a place that no one was familiar with, not even Kate. All she knew was that his name was Eric. Kate's second friend was a young man named Michael. Michael was like Kate but much worse. Unlike Kate, he never cracked a smile and never really had any fun on his breaks or day's off. He and Kate had always been friend's since high school.

Kate was rolling a cart that had a sign that said "check in" on the body of it. She wheeled it all the way to the front of the ship to check people into their cabins. She parked her cart and stood there waiting for the people to come by which was going to be any minute now. Michael followed her all the way over holding a bunch of key's to all the cabin's. He stood beside her holding a clipboard. "Good morning," said Michael while yawning. She yawned loudly after hearing him yawn. "Good morning Mike, how are ya today?" She asked while rubbing her eye's. "I'm alright, but I had that dream again last night. "He replied. "Which one? The giant dancing bottle of aspirin dream, or the dream where your mom is ballroom dancing with the gorilla?" She asked. "Neither, the one where I'm a cowboy chef trying to save a seven eleven from the goat kid." He replied. Kate began to chuckle. "I thought your therapist said those dreams would end by now," she said. "I know, I called her this morning and had to do my therapeutic hand stands again." He replied. "What's up with you this morning?" He asked. "I was put in charge of assigning the passengers their cabins for this morning, and then I have a whole days worth of my regular work ahead of me." She explained. "Well I guess we better put on our hospitable faces now because here come the passengers. "Micheal replied pointing ahead. The passengers where flooding onto the ship ready to begin their vacation's. Yep, it was just another regular day for Kate and Michael.

As things where getting crazy on the ship, they where also getting crazy at a near by bar. The local bar was a spot where all the local citizen's would flock to unwind after a hard day's work. That day at the bar was the day of the annual poker tournament. The prize varied each year, but this year the grand prize was an all expenses paid cruise for two on the SS Titanic. Jack Dawson, a local man known for his painting skills was at the table. Alongside him was his good friend Eddy Bird, who was a womanizer and mechanic.

Jack looked at his hand sharply as he wiped sweat away from his forehead. The man across from him was the meanest poker player around. They called him poker king Paul. He glared at both Eddy and Jack sharply hoping he could intimidate them and make them lose. "C'mon, I know you don't have a hand even near decent enough to beat my hand buddy!" Paul taunted, but Jack kept a straight face up till the bitter end. Jack carefully overlooked his hand and made as smart of moves as he could. Eddy did the same, although, he was not as crafty as Jack was at the table. Paul laid the cards down on the table glaring at Jack. "Face it kid, you can't beat me!" He said in a cocky tone, but Jack knew better and was smiling at Paul deviously." You know, all kings eventually get de throned from their spot at the throne. "He said, with a devious smile. "I don't think you have what it takes drifter!" Paul replied. "Hey!" Eddy cried jumping up from his seat. "Nobody calls my buddy a drifter and gets away with it!" Eddy balled up a fist to throw a punch at Paul, but Jack stood up and restrained him. He looked at Eddy in the eye and winked. Eddy knew that Jack was trying to give him a signal, so he sat back down and controlled his anger. Jack took one last look at his hand and threw his cards face down on the table. "Ooh! Scary hand! It's face down punk, everybody knows you're gonna lose!" Paul said happily, but Jack turned his hand over and to Paul's surprise, it was a winning hand! He gasped at the sight of Jack's perfect score. "How the heck did you? " "Face it Paul, you ain't the king no more, I am!" Jack cried happily. He and Eddy stood up and embraced each other cheering and celebrating. Onlookers applauded their victory and began to dance with joy over Paul's defeat. Paul rolled his eyes and quickly left the table to avoid any further embarrassment. The pit boss then approached Jack and Eddy with tickets in his hand. He handed them both each a ticket and said in a cheerful voice, "Congratulations! You have just won two tickets to the fabulous and luxurious SS Titanic 2!" Jack and Eddy both cheered. "Ed, were goin' home!" Jack cried happily.

Eddy looked behind himself and saw two men in trench coats making their way through the crowd's for them. "Hey Jack, we better split if you know what I mean." Eddy tugging at Jack's sleeve. Jack could then see the two men coming for them. He grabbed Eddy's hand and ran out the door. They grabbed their bags that where sitting outside in a corner and ran for the docks. "Come on it's boarding now!" Jack cried as he ran ahead. Eddy was close behind him looking over his shoulder. He could see the men in the trench coats running for them. "Come on Jack!" He cried. They ran through allies and jumped fences to avoid contact, but somehow the men kept up with them. Jack looked back and could see just how close they where getting. I have an idea bud, follow me!" Jack cried, making a sharp turn down a street. They ran into a crowd of people, and through a huge narrow ally to their left and climbed over a chain linked fence. They ran a couple more blocks and stopped to take a rest. They both looked around and saw no one had followed them this time. "Way to go boss!" Eddy cheered. Before they could celebrate, the men in the coats walked over to them both standing on opposite ends of the ally to stop them from running away this time. Jack and Eddy knew the chase was up. One of the men approached them taking his hood off his head exposing his face. It was a man who was bald with a tattoo of a cobra coiled in a ball on his face. He approached Jack and Eddy with an envelope. "You two clowns know why where here, so why avoid us?" He asked. Jack and Eddy stayed silent while Jack took the envelope from him. He carefully opened the letter using his pocket knife and read the short letter. It was two pages long in all. The first page had an entire map and blue print scale of the entire ship, and the second page had the text "do not fail me," on it. Jack showed it to Eddy who had a big disagreement for what he was thinking. "Jack, where free, don't you wanna go home?" He whispered. "Were not free unless we complete this last mission Ed, you know that." Jack replied sadly. "But the boat, we can make a run for it without them knowing!" Eddy suggested. "We can hear what your saying, so if your thinking about running away, know that we will find you wherever you are, and there will, however, be blood on your account... literally!" The bald man replied while the hooded one chuckled. Jack and Eddy had been linked to a mob of thieves for the longest time in the world. The reason for this, was to have money and the ability to live while they got themselves on their feet, but by the time they where able to leave the organization, their boss wanted them to complete so called "tasks," in order to leave the mob forever. "So boy's, are you gonna complete the task the boss has givin' ya, or do we have a problem?" Asked the balled man as he pulled a gun from his pocket. Jack and Eddy could see his gun and shuttered by the sight of it. "Okay, okay, we'll do it, but promise us you'll let us go after all this is over!" Jack demanded. The man put the gun away and extended a hand to Jack. "You have our word boy," he replied with an evil smirk coming on his face. Jack shook his hand and left the ally with Eddy to catch the boat. The two men disappeared into the shadows going back to the man who had sent them.

Michael and Kate where busy on the boat unaware of the two passengers that where on their way. Michael checked names off his clip board, while Kate signed people in and handed out room keys. "This crowd is never going to die down!" Michael shouted. "Ya think?" Kate replied sarcastically.

The ship was now boarding it's last hundred passengers before casting off, and Jack and Eddy where still five minutes away from the boat. Jack ran in front of Eddy holding their tickets. "Ed, keep up!" He cried. "Jack, I'm trying, but I'm going to have a heat stroke in a minute!" Eddy replied, panting from lack of air. Then they could hear the sound of the ships horn being blown. That was the signal that they where about to take off. "Oh man! Let's move it Eddo!" Jack cried. They ran as fast as they could until they could see the ship and dock. "There it is Jack!" Cried Eddy, but the bridge was slowly beginning to rise up. "Oh man! Run!" Jack cried. They tried to run as fast as they could to cross the bridge, but they could already tell they weren't going to make it. "Jack, what do we do now?" Eddy cried. Jack was usually the one to make all the plans so he quickly thought of one, but it was dangerous and risky to attempt. "Got it, Ed, run as fast as you can and jump once you hit the end of the dock!" Jack ordered, but Eddy didn't like that plan at all since he was afraid of falling into the deep water. "We won't make it Jack! We'll be shark bait!" Eddy replied. "Do you want to be free once and for all?" Asked Jack. "Yeah," Eddy replied. "Then jump!" They ran at top speed and one by one they each jumped and landed onto the boat, but barely. They laid there on the deck to catch their breathe after running for all that time. A man came by and helped them both up on their feet. "You okay boys?" Asked the man. "We sure are." Jack replied. They looked around and remembered the ship from a couple of years ago. "It hasn't changed a bit," said Eddy. "Yeah I know what you mean," Jack replied gazing at the grand voyager. Jack passed Eddy his ticket and they both put their hooded jackets on. "Now remember Ed, protect your identity or we'll get arrested by the captain. Only take it off in a spot that you feel is safe. "Jack ordered. "Got it buddy!" Eddy replied. They both walked over to Kate and Michael with their heads pointed down so they couldn't see their faces. Micheal saw them but he didn't care who they where even though they looked suspicious. "Name's," he said holding his clip board, but they didn't answer.

"Name's,"he said again, but still no answer. "Hey, are you deaf?" Michael said impatiently. "Michael! Your yelling at the passengers again!" Kate cried. "I'm sorry, please let me see your ticket." She said reaching her hand out for them. They both handed her the tickets at once. She examined them carefully and stamped them both. "Micheal, they are the contest winners of the local bar's Poker tournament. "She said. "Oh... sorry for yelling at ya." He replied feeling a little embarrassed. "Okay, I'm going to need both your first and last names please." She asked. Jack and Eddy didn't want to reveal their real names for the fear of them getting caught, so they made up fake ones. "My name is Jack Davidson, and this is my friend," "Eddy Papa Georgio!" Eddy cried interrupting Jack. Jack glared at him thinking they where for sure caught now that he gave them an obvious fake name, but Kate wrote them down at the bottom of the list ."Okay mister Davidson and... mister Georgio, here is your room keys down below on the fiesta deck." She said while handing them the keys. "Uh, fiesta deck?" replied Jack sounding confused. "Yeah, the only available room we have left is the one on the first floor and that's the fiesta deck." She explained. Jack and Eddy knew they had no other choice but to take what they got. "Alright then," Jack replied." Okay, well here is a map of the ship and if you have any questions, call the front desk and we'll be happy to assist you." Said Michael handing them both maps. They took them, snatched their keys from Kate, and quickly ran down the stairs for the fiesta deck. "Have a good day!" Kate cried. Jack turned to look back and reply, but Eddy pulled him down the stairs with him before he could. "Come on bud before we get caught!" Said Eddy. They disappeared below the deck. Kate and Michael looked at each other for a moment with confusion. "Who has a name like Papa Georgio?" She asked. "Only people who have dated hundreds of women." Micheal replied.

Jack and Eddy ran down to the fiesta deck .It was dark, the hallways where small, the windows that looked out to the sea had scratches on them, and it smelled like chlorine. They walked down a few hallways and found their room number 23. Jack quickly unlocked the door and went in with Eddy behind him. It was small, cramped and very uncomfortable. But to top it off, they had to share the room with one other man named Melman who was doing aerobic exercise's on the other side of the room. He was doing lunges, and squats to a 1960's song called "surfin bird," by the trashmen. Jack and Eddy just stared at him like he was weird until he turned around and saw them watching. He turned his radio off and ran over to greet them covered in sweat. "Hi fella's!" He cried happily. "I am Melman Alfonsoremireztinkerbot! What are your names?" He asked. Jack and Eddy where creeped out by him a little, simply by his annoying personality. "Uh, my name is Jack Dawson, and this is my friend Eddy Bird." Jack replied. "Nice to meet ya fella's!" Melman replied sticking his hand out to shake their's. Eddy shook it, but Jack didn't want to because of how dirty Melman looked from exercising, but he did any way. "I'll be right back! I need to throw my exercising clothes in the washroom on the second floor! Be back in a jiffy!" He cried as he ran down the hallway for the stairs. They watched him run until he was out of sight. Eddy then looked at Jack with a creeped out look on his face. "Am I the only one who thinks that guy could kill with a cereal spoon?" Asked Eddy. "No," Jack replied. He walked into the room and looked around it. "Well despite the size, cleanliness and Melman, the room is nice." He said trying to make the best of what they had. His attention was then focused on the window they had that looked out to the ocean. "Look! We get a nice view!" Jack said looking out the window, but right as he did, a shark with huge teeth so big, they stuck out of his mouth swam by staring at Jack. "Oh!" He yelped jumping backwards. Eddy walked over to the door and shut it. "Oh Jack let's face it," said Eddy beginning to complain, "The room sucks, the view sucks and the people suck, but remember, vacation is not why were on the boat." Jack knew he was right and began to unpack his bag. "I guess it's better to stay well hidden on the crumby part of the ship then to be discovered on the nice part of it."Jack replied. So Eddy and Jack unpacked their bags ready for two weeks of sailing.


	2. The list

Chapter two the list

It was about three o clock in the afternoon when Kate and Michael finally got a break from work. They where sitting in the workers lounge eating away at some chicken salad. "I can't believe that bathroom took me three and a half hours to clean!" Micheal cried. "I'm gonna tell the Mexican buffet to cut down on the beans they put in their taco's." Kate's face grew sour as she heard him say those words as she at her food. "Don't say that while I'm eating!" She cried. "But I'm telling you," Michael replied, beginning to complain, "my job isn't gonna go anywhere as long as I'm scrubbing the toilets and cleaning up baby vomit off the daycare floor." "Michael, doing dirt jobs and kissing up to my uncle isn't going to get you a promotion." She said. "You have to show off your skills or at least learn some when an opportunity to do so comes your way." "What skills?" He asked looking interested, "I don't know!" Kate replied. "What do you know how to do?" "Well, I can cook pretty dang good." He replied. "But I don't want to be promoted for my cooking skills, then I would be stuck in a hot steamy kitchen all day. I want to be promoted for my business and organization skills." He explained. "There is no business when it comes to working on a ship, there is only organization." Kate commented. "Well be that as it may, I still want to move up from scrubbing toilets and responding to room calls." Michael replied. As they where having their break, captain John entered the room with a stack of papers and sat down in the seat across from them. "Hello kid's," he said as he thumbed through the pages. "Hey captain, can I get you anything?" Asked Michael. "No Michael, I don't need you to serve me today." John replied. Kate couldn't help but chuckle at hearing that comment. "But I do need you two to listen to me about something very important." He added. "What is it uncle?"Asked a curious Kate, with her arms folded.

"Well, I have just recently heard of a jailbreak from a local prison, and this ship is the perfect place for a criminal to hide, so I have made a few list's with pictures included of some of the criminals we have had on the ship before." John explained handing them both lists. They where nothing at all like lists, but more like dictionaries in alphabetical order of all the psycho's the Titanic has had aboard before. These booklets included detailed stories and pictures. As Michael and Kate thumbed through them briefly, they got a little creeped out by some of the photo's they saw. "Wow uncle John," Kate said in a surprised tone. "I had no idea the ship had criminals on it before, and of this kind." "I mean,there are thieves, gang members, even killers in these booklets. "Yeah,and freaky ones too!" Michael added. "Yes indeed, I just wanted the whole staff including you guys to know, and be on the lookout for anyone who may look like anyone on the lists." John said in a serious tone. "And unfortunately, not all these criminals where put behind bars." He added. Kate and Michael looked at him with fear written on their faces. "What?"Said Michael nervously. "Yes, in fact, turn the page to page four, there is one particular criminal that didn't ever get caught." They didn't want to look for, they feared he may be some scary psycho killer, but they turned it over. There they saw a picture of Jack. "Who is this?" Kate asked. "That is Jack Dawson, he is the worst thief I have ever met in my lifetime." John replied. "How long ago was he aboard the ship?" Asked a scared Michael. "Oh my dear boy, way before you or even Kate came aboard. "He replied. "Tell us what happened." Kate asked eager to find out. "Well you see," said Captain John beginning his discourse, "a few years back, I had set sail for a two month trip from Hawaii to France. I had just gotten the ship a fresh coat of paint and some new furnishings for all the cabins of the ship, including some rare jewels I received from Africa, as a gift for delivering some lost children back to their country. Well, as the trip went on into the first month, I had noticed a very shady young man in suspender's always walking by the storage room where I had kept the jewels hidden away in secret. He always looked at the door and would slow down as he passed by as if he knew there was treasure hidden away within. At the time, I had not gotten suspicious of him because he always acted very polite and never seemed to have an interest in anything the rich folk had, but I was a fool. One night, when asleep in my bed, I was awoken by thunderous knocking at my door from one of my crew. I jumped out of bed and ran to the door. I opened it up and found Amelia one of my maids screaming about about 50 men or so breaking into people's rooms and stealing their furniture. I called security and ran for my gun. When I got to the top deck, I found several speed boats zooming away with Piano's, bed frames, chairs, vanity tables, mirrors, even dressers. Then I remembered the storage room and ran with six armed men over to it on the other side of the boat. When I got there, the door had been opened and the lock thrown across the dock in pieces. I ran inside with my gun drawn and found that the safe that held all my African rubies was gone. 'Jack Dawson!' I cried. Then I heard the sound of a young man chuckling. I ran out of the closet and found Jack with the safe in his hands. 'You stupid old man!' He cried to me. 'I knew you would buy that whole innocent act I put on.' And with that, he jumped over the railing and landed safely onto a speed boat and got away before I could capture him."

"That is why this boy is in the top ten making him number two on the list." Kate and Michael where not only scared about the story, but now they where scared to be on the boat at all now. "Uncle John, why didn't you ever say anything about these criminals sooner?" Asked Kate. "Well, because I didn't want to scare you unnecessarily." He replied. "Okay, only when a maniac boards the ship you where going to tell us!" Michael cried. "Are you suspecting there could be somebody on the ship now?" Asked Kate. "No, but I do want to be on the lookout." He replied. He stood up and began to walk to the door. "Oh and one more thing," he said as he was walking away. "If you do find someone, you are to call security on your radios." He left the lounge with Kate and Michael feeling messed up. "Well I don't want to go to sleep tonight!" Michael cried. "Oh Mike," Kate said trying not to sound scared. "There is nobody on this ship, we are perfectly safe." "Yeah well, you can tell my mother you said that to me three hours before I was murdered on the toilet." He replied sarcastically. There break by that time had ended and had no choice but to start their work. "Are you gonna have a heart attack?" Asked Kate. "Not unless someone stabs me there." Michael replied. They left to begin the night shift.

Meanwhile deep below the deck, Jack and Eddy had unpacked and where setting up their beds for bedtime. "I hope we can get through this last heist without getting caught," Eddy said while arranging his pillows. "Eddy, you better be careful how loud you talk, walls have ears ya know." Jack replied. "and plus, we don't want Melman to get suspicious of us and report us do you?" "Oh Jack! That guy is so stupid, he wouldn't ever get the idea even if I told him face to face." Eddy replied. "Why do you say that? Is it because he wouldn't know what the word heist means?" And that's when Melman came back from the wash rooms. "Hey fellas! What about a heist? is that some sort of ice cream flavor?" He asked. "Your right Eddo, he wouldn't know." Jack replied laughing. Right before Jack could lay down on his bunk bed, Melman climbed up and sat there kicking his feet. "Uh... that's my bunk." Jack said impatiently. "No, you stole mine. This is mine, take the one below me." Melman replied. "No, I don't want a bottom bunk, the whole reason to sleep on a bunk bed is to be on the top and I want the top!" Jack replied angrily. "Sorry pal ya snooze ya lose!" Melman replied. Jack grabbed him by the shirt collar and began to strangle him. "What did you say Dumbo!" Jack cried. Melman screamed like a woman and begged him to let go. "I'm sorry!" He cried. "Give me the top bunk!" Jack screamed. "Never!" Melman replied. That enabled Jack to squeeze poor Melman harder. Eddy jumped off his bunk and began to restrain Jack. "Jack! Stop it! Take my bunk just don't blow our cover." Eddy whispered in Jack's ear. Jack immediately released Melman from his grip. "I'm sorry Melman, I lost my temper." Said Jack in an irritated tone. "Well you should be for freaking out about something stupid!" Melman replied. He got off his bed and headed to the door. "Now I need to go get my jockstrap and exercise clothes back from the wash room, be back soon gentlemen!" Melman said as he left the room. Eddy moved his stuff to the bottom bunk under Melman's, and Jack moved over to Eddy's. They placed their clothes and things on the last available bunk under Jack's. Jack placed a black box under one of the pillows that contained the heist plans in it for safe keeping. "I hope we don't get caught, especially since we have been here at one time."Jack said. "Well, technically, you have and I haven't. I was robbing a mansion that night remember?" Eddy replied. "Well in any case, we better stay below tonight, but tomorrow we will move into action. Jack replied. So Jack and Eddy settled down for the evening.

It was about nine o clock at night when Kate got off of work. She was in her room on the third floor from the top deck combing her hair and getting into her pajama's. She was sitting at her vanity table looking at herself in the mirror. She couldn't help but feel uncomfortable and strange that night. "Perhaps it was the story that scared me. "She said to herself. "Or the list that's sitting on my night stand." She finished combing her hair, and placed her brush back on the table. Just as she was about to take her robe off, she heard Michael's screams coming from his room about two hallways away from her's. "AAAHHHHHHHH!" He screamed. She ran out of her room and dashed down the hallway's for his cabin. She kicked in the locked door and found him sitting up in bed screaming at the window. She turned the light on and ran over to comfort him."What! What! WHAT!" She cried. "I saw a shadow passing by my window and it looked like it was someone trying to break in!" He cried. Kate bravely walked over to the window and peaked out. She immediately saw a clown walking by with balloon animals in his arms, and a herd of children following him. Kate looked at Michael with an angry face. "That was mister Haha walking by your room!" She cried. "Oh," Michael replied feeling relieved. Kate smacked him on the back of the head. "You big baby! Why are you screaming at the top of your lungs at nine o clock at night, waking all the passengers up for something like this?" She cried. "I was scared of Jack!" Michael replied. "Could you blame me?" "Michael, first off, Jack is no where near the boat and second of all, there are a lot worse people we could have on this boat. "Like who?" Asked a shaken Michael. "Oh I don't know... a serial killer maybe! Butch looked kinda scary!"She replied. "Well, thieves will kill for loot if they have to!" Michael cried. "Oh Michael, shut up and go to bed!" She replied, turning out the lights and slamming the door as she left. She went back into her room and climbed into bed. As she laid there, she decided to open the book and look at that picture of Jack again. She starred at it for a moment and put it back in the drawer. "Is it wrong to think he looks cute?" She wondered. After that brief moment she turned out the light and fell asleep.


	3. Kate meets Jack

Chapter three Jack meets Kate

The next morning Kate awoke to the sound of her radio going off. "Hello?" A disembodied voice said on the other end. She rubbed her eyes and picked it up off her night stand. "Who's there?" She asked in a sleepy tone. "It's me, Uncle John, I need you to get up and help me organize the auction for tonight." Every six months or so, the Captain holds an auction of treasures or priceless antiques up for sale to the richest passengers on board. These items ranged from jewelry to antique furniture. The crew hated getting ready for it because the captain strove to make it perfect, but that didn't mean he would lift a finger to make it that way. "Oh man the auction!" She thought to herself. "Hello?" The Captain said impatiently. "Yes sir, I'll be ready in ten minutes." She replied. "Over and out." She got out of her bed and went into her bathroom to begin the long day ahead of her.

When she finished, she left her cabin and headed up to the sailor's lounge to meet up with Michael who had already been called an hour ago. As she walked by him for the coffee table, she popped him on the back of his head with her fist. "Hey you big baby, thanks for screaming like a girl making me think you where being murdered in your bedroom last night." Said Kate, as she poured herself some coffee. "Hey, when your told by the captain there could be maniacs on board, your gonna panic a little." He replied, rubbing the back of his head." Yeah, well, we'll see how you react if a real maniac stops by your window instead of mister Haha the clown."She replied. "Are there any danishes left?" "No, your uncle doesn't want anyone to eat breakfast this morning, he wants everyone to get working in the next minute or so." Michael replied. Kate sat beside him stirring cream and sweetener into her coffee. "You know, I hate it when we have to prepare for this stupid auction in eight hours. There's to much to do and he yells at everybody."Said Kate while taking a sip of her coffee."I mean, why can't he start preparing a day in advance?" "I don't know, he must have his reasons." Michael replied. "Oh you'll defend him against anything for a promotion!" She replied sarcastically. "No! I am only trying to be fair here." He replied. "Yeah, well, if you do ever get promoted, your life and work will suck so bad you'll want to go back to scrubbing out the toilets." Said Kate, taking another sip of her coffee. After their brief argument, the Captain began to speak over the intercom. "All crew members are to report to my office for a complete list of work assigned to each of them. Make haste!" He commanded. Kate and Michael got up and headed for the door. "Well we better hurry or He'll make life a lot harder if we don't start soon." Said Michael. Everyone left for the Captain's office for they're work sheets.

Jack was fast asleep in his bed dreaming about becoming a famous artist, and having his work published to a museum in Italy. "People, people, no autographs please!" Jack said in a cocky tone. Just before he got to shake Leonardo Da Vinci's hand, he was awoken by the sound of Melman's voice.

He opened his eyes and found Melman standing at the side of his bed with a hot tray of food. "Melman?" He said, as he rubbed his eyes. "Hey buddy, I'm really sorry about our little argument yesterday, so I made you some breakfast!" He said happily. Jack sat up and looked down at the hot plate of food Melman prepared for him."Melman, how did you cook this stuff without a stove?" He asked. "Oh I used a microwave I brought with me!" He replied. "Here let me put this on your lap." He lowering it down for his lap. "Uh, Melman, that looks hot don't touch me with it!" Jack cried. "Nonsense! I cooled it a long time ago!" Melman replied placing it down on his lap. The minute it touched Jack's lap, it burned like it was over 400 degree's hot. "Ah!" Jack cried, as he flipped it off onto the floor. "Get that away from me Melman!" He cried angrily. "Well I will now that it's ruined!" Melman replied, picking the food off the ground. "Just let me wake up okay?" Jack said impatiently. "Fine grouchy, but I'll break through that angry wall one of these days!" Melman said, leaving the room for a mop. That's when Eddy came in after having a shower. "Hey Jack," said Eddy. "Hey Eddy, how was your shower?" Asked Jack. "Terrible, the showers down here are about the size of a small toilet stall, and they produce brown cold water." "Well that's what you get when your stuck on the fiesta deck with a guy named Melman." Jack replied, kicking the covers off of his body. "Hey dude, before you get up, tell me what your doing today." Eddy asked while buttoning up his shirt. "Well, I think I'm gonna do some sketching today." Jack replied. "Why?" "you know the boss will want us to plan the heist here soon."Eddy added. "I know, but aren't we allowed some relaxation time first?" Asked Jack, while buttoning up his shirt. "Well sure, but ya know, can't go crazy." Eddy replied. "I'm not, I just want to try to relax a little." Replied Jack. "Alright man, I'll see ya later then. "Said Eddy, leaving the room to steal some breakfast."Okay pal," Jack replied, heading out the door behind him.

Back on the main deck, everyone was getting ready for the auction, while doing they're daily chores at the same time. Michael, Kate and several other workers, where in the ballroom preparing it for the auction, while other crew members hauled the heavy items up for sale into the back room for storage. The ballroom was large enough for up to 2,500 people and a shocking amount of 1,600 where already invited to come participate. There was so much to do to get ready for the auction, so the captain made specific instructions as to how he wanted the ballroom to look when finished. He first wanted a stage built by carpenters made with oak wood made in front of the storage room, then he wanted there to be red curtains covering up the doors to the storage room to make the stage look grand. He also wanted all the wood flooring replaced with red velvet carpet, and antique rugs that where also going to be up for sale. He wanted a live band to play music, so he hired some musician's who knew how to play the violin, and the cello for the evening. He wanted there to be gourmet food on a table to the far left of the ballroom filled with the finest wine, fish, salad and pasta's. The walls where to have there paintings taken off and replaced with the paintings up for sale, but some of these paintings where a good 15 feet long from top to bottom, so that would take over six grown men to do that job. All in all ,the job was going to need the work of over eighty people to do it.

Kate was hard at work preparing the stage with the curtains. She was standing on a ladder holding a part of the heavy curtain."Okay we need to carefully thread the curtain through the rod, so we need to move at the same time so none of us fall." She commanded. Michael was standing on the other side holding his half, and they began to thread it through. Carpenters where coming in with large stacks of wood and tools to begin building the stage. "Make sure you guys make it so it can hold up to 1,000 pounds!" Kate asked. To a carpenter, that was like asking them to build thirty large bookshelves in over 25 minutes, that could hold heavy books and globes, but that's what they where being paid to do. They quickly began working.

After about three hours, the Captain came into the ballroom to check on his crew. What he saw made him angry. The carpenters just now started building the stage, and Kate and Michael just finished the curtain hanging. This made him angry. "Do you think this is a joke?" Cried the Captain. "Sir, were trying," said Michael, covered in sweat. "No, I'm trying." The captain replied, "I'm not gonna take that kind of excuse from you people! I need you to get this done by eight o clock TONIGHT!" Cried the Captain, storming out of the room. Everyone began to work twice as hard now.

Jack was wearing his disguise, and was walking around on the boat trying to find a decent spot to take his costume off. He found a seating area where a lot of mothers where nursing their babies. He took his costume off and sat on a bench by the boat railing. He saw a woman next to him nursing her one year old baby. He took his drawing pad out of his bag along with his good pencil, and began to draw them. He carefully drew every outline with fine detail occasionally glimpsing at her to get the perfect outline. It took him only ten minutes and he was done. He got up and walked over to her with the picture in his hands. "Excuse me miss," he said quietly. She looked up at him covering herself. "Yes?" She asked. "I couldn't help but notice you nursing your baby, so I drew your portrait for you." He said, handing it over to her. She looked at it for a moment and smiled. "Oh this is beautiful! How much do you want for it? "She asked." Twenty dollars is my minimum," He stated. She gave him a twenty dollar bill and left. He put it in his pocket and sat back down to draw. Then a man in a trench coat came up to him. He taped him on the shoulder and Jack looked up at him. It was Eddy. "Eddy?" Jack whispered. "Hey Jack, wanna go look over the boat together, I can hear humpback whales breaching. "Eddy replied. "Yeah! Let's go!" Jack cried, putting his coat back on. They ran for the front of the boat.

Michael was directing the movers where to put the furniture in the back room, and while he did this job, Kate was doing another. She was on the phone with one of the restaurant's of the ship, to see if she could order the food the Captain wanted. "What do you mean your booked up? This is the Captain's niece! You have to listen to me it's legal!" Kate cried. Michael over heard her and made a comment, "it's not legal," he commented. "Shut up Mike!" She replied. "Please cater tonight, he wants your gourmet food!" but the restaurant hung up on her. She threw her cell phone on the ground in frustration. "I've had it!" She cried. "No one will approach the auction tonight!" "What are we gonna do?" Asked Michael. She looked at Michael and remembered he had cooking skills. "Mike, you can cook tonight and I'll get some workers to help serve." she suggested. Michael protested the idea. "No, if I cook, your uncle will promote me to chef and I don't want that remember!" Michael replied. "but Mike, were gonna have serious problems if you don't, please would you do this for me at least?" She pleaded. Michael was a good guy, so he couldn't say no. "but it's thousands of people!" He cried. "So, I'll get some people together to help you. It'll be a snap!" She replied snapping her fingers. Michael began to feel guilty and agreed to do it. "Fine, but you owe me for this!" Said Michael storming off. "Thanks bro!" Kate replied happily. "Well that's one ship sailed." She said with satisfaction. "Now to hire some maids!" She said dialing numbers on her cell phone.

Michael went around the boat to see if he could find a closed restaurant that would let him use their kitchen. He finally found a Mexican place that was closed for the day due to the severe toilet clogs in the bathrooms. He didn't want to have to work in there because of the horrible smell, but he knew he had no other choice. "I hate you Kate!" He whispered angrily to himself. He opened the locked doors and instantly could smell the bathroom from the entrance. "Oh dang! All day I have to be here!" He cried covering his nose. He bravely walked in turning on the air conditioner.

Jack and Eddy had been watching the humpback whales breach for over two hours now. It was very relaxing, beautiful and peaceful.

"Look at that one!" Jack cried, as one breached right in front of the ship. They both began to cheer and applaud the gentle giants for the show they where putting on for them. One of the smaller ones stuck it's entire head out of the water and was looking up at Jack and Eddy. They reached they're hands down and where able to touch it on the tip of it's mouth. It felt rough, bumpy, yet soft in a way. It got back in the water and swam off with the rest of the herd. "That was some experience wasn't it?" Said Jack still thrilled from his experience. "You bet!" Eddy replied. "Well, I think I'm gonna take a nap for a couple of hours, then maybe we can steal some bread for dinner tonight." Said Eddy, as he was walking back to his cabin. "See ya!" Jack replied. Jack began to make his way back to his seating area to draw some more, but on the way over, he could see a dozen officers coming his way. It looked like they where looking for someone. "Oh no!" He cried. He dashed for the storage room of the ship where they kept the unused food, cleaning supplies and that was also where the heater and the ships electrical power came from, so it was a very dangerous place to be. He opened the heavy door and ran inside. He hid behind a generator and stayed there for a while.

Kate was now being consumed by the amount of work she was doing. She was on the phone with the auctioneer who was refusing to come due to the Captain's attitude, she also instructing the carpenters on how to make the stage look with it's decorative carvings according to the Captain's requested, and she was trying to help one of the workers sew up a rip in one of the $2,000 dollar tablecloths. "Sir, please help us tonight, this is what your being paid to do!" She cried. "No! You must raise my salary to at least $200 dollars an hour!" He replied in an angry tone. "But I can't afford to pay you that much in one night! Can't I pay you in installments?" She asked. "No! If you don't have the money now, I will not do it!" and with that, he hung up on her. She threw her phone down on the ground again, this time stomping all over it in anger and frustration. "AAAAHHHH!" She screamed. "I can't do it anymore!" That's when her radio went off. She picked it up and pressed the green response button on it's side. "What!" She cried. "Kate, stop freaking out and get to the storage room. There are some problems with the lighting in the ballroom I found this morning, and I need you to check in on it. "Captain John replied. "Fine!" She cried hanging up. She stormed out of the ballroom and crossed the deck to the storage room.

Kate made it to the door and reached in her pocket for the key. But when she tried to unlock the door, she found it had already been opened. "Why is it open?" She wondered. She thought no more of it and ventured inside for the power generator. She walked all the way to the end where the big gears turned to give the ship electrical power. She reached over on gear that was rotating out of the ground for a power box that was placed above it. As she reached over, she began to lose her balance. She tripped over the gear and landed on the other side. She sat back up and shook her head. "Oh man, that hurt!" She said loudly. When she tried to stand back up, she felt her right foot stuck in something. She saw it was the gear that was jammed up because of her pantihose. She tried to pull it out but no luck. "Oh no!" She cried. Then she could see a shadow of something huge hovering over her. She looked up and saw a huge claw that was coming down to pick the gear up. She gasped in horror as it slowly began to lower itself down. "Help me!" She screamed, as she struggled to get out. Jack who was on the other side of the room, could hear her screams through the sounds of the loud generator. He peeked behind it and saw her struggling to get free. He looked up and could see the claw coming down. If it picked her up, it was going to crush her body and kill her. He hesitated to come out, but he reluctantly came out from his hiding place and made his way to her. Kate was in a state of desperation doing anything she had to to get her foot free. She tried to remove her shoe, but the heel was wedged in deeply. "Help me!" She desperately cried again, but no one still couldn't hear her. It was like being alone in a haunted house and screaming for help but no one can hear you. As she whirled her head around frantically searching for a way to get out, she noticed a young man in suspenders walking slowly over to her. She looked at him for a moment and immediately realized it was Jack Dawson! He began to reach his hand out for her like he was going to kill her. Her eyes widened as she began to scream with terror. "AAHHH!" She screamed. Jack flinched and knew that if someone outside could hear her, they would come in and find him. He moved closer over to her more quickly. She closed her eyes prepared for impact, but to her surprise, she felt a tug at her stuck foot. She opened her eyes and found him pulling her foot free, right as the machine came down nearly crushing it to bits. She shook her foot out of his hands and stepped back. They stared at each other blankly like they had never seen another person of the opposite sex before. She had to bring herself to reality before she could handle the fact that the man in front of her was a dangerous criminal.

Jack didn't know how to handle the situation he now had put himself into. He didn't want to scare her or she would go get the guards, but he didn't want her to stick around him in case someone had heard her screams. He reached his hand out to shake her's, but she hoped back beginning to breathe heavily. He began to slowly approach her as he began to try to talk her down to a calm level, but she jumped back and shouted before he could say a word, "stay away from me! I know who you are!" She cried in fear. Jack reached his hand out and talked in a slow and calming tone. "Miss, please don't be scared, I'm not going to hurt you." She looked down at his hand. and then up looking in the eyes of the man that saved her. All she could see at that moment was fear. She darted right past him and ran out of the room. She looked back briefly at him and saw him standing there with his hands in his pockets, and a sad look on his face. She stopped for a moment and said something that surprised him. "Thank you," she said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear her. Then she ran away. Jack was still standing in the room scared she was gonna get some guards to detain him. "I better disappear!" He cried as he ran out of the room.

Kate was in a state of panic. She frantically ran through the crowd looking for Michael. She ran back into the Mexican diner and found him working in the kitchen wearing a gas mask. "Michael! I have some bone chilling news!" She cried. Michael saw her and threw her a mask. "Kate! Put this on if you want to breathe in here!" He replied while chopping carrots. At that point, she didn't care about the smell from the bathrooms let alone notice it in her state of panic. "Michael, I need to tell you something important!" She cried again. "Kate, I have no time to talk, I have to get this salad on the floor in twenty minutes, and I still have the Pasta and cheese stuffed mushroom caps to make before tonight." He replied cutting her off. "Michael this is a matter of life or death!" She cried once more. "The only life threatening thing I'm dealing with now is cooking in this toxic box!" He replied. "Now I'll talk to you later but right now I need to work. "He said, as he pushed her out the exit. "But Mike!" He slammed the door in her face before he heard her protest. "I need to get the guards!" She cried as she ran for the security office. Once she got there, she found that no one was in there. They where all working on the auction for the captain. (Now you see how bad the captain was on auction night.) "No wonder dangerous criminals get on the ship, security sucks!" She cried. "Will no one help me!" She slowly opened the exit door, and peaked her head out looking carefully around to see if Jack had followed her by chance. No one was around in sight, but she still was hesitant to leave the room so she stayed until she was calmed down. She sat down under one of the officers desks and tried to talk herself back into reality. "Okay Kate, don't panic! Panicking isn't going to do anything to help you." She closed her eyes and began to rest after her ordeal with the machine and Jack. Her mind slowly drifted back to the moment when the machine was about ready to come down and kill her. She remembered the horror she felt and how much of life she had not yet lived. She could remember thinking about her sister who lived in Alaska, and her friend Lance, who she hadn't seen in a long time since he lived back in San Diego. She also thought about how she had never had a relationship with anyone since most of the men she would meet where jerks or perverts. She thought about how her career had not yet been launched, and how she had never had the chance to even work in a doctors office. Not even as a receptionist. "My life has been a waste!" She remembered thinking to herself, but then she remembered the feeling of her leg being gently pulled from the grim reapers trap. She remembered seeing Jack pulling her free from certain death, and how gentle his hands and eyes where. She opened her eyes as her heart began to race. "He...saved my life." But the question that kept running through her mind was "Why did he?"

The auction began after the sun went down. Thousands of the ships wealthiest people where invited to buy some of the nicest furniture and jewelry the ship had to offer. As the crowd was pouring in, Michael was busy setting up the tables with his food. As he did this, the captain approached him looking around for his niece. "Michael, where is Kate?" He asked impatiently. "I don't know sir, but I hope she gets here soon." He replied. The captain didn't want any of his workers to slack off, especially on the auction night. His ships reputation was very important to him, and he didn't want it shattered. He dialed his phone to see if Kate would answer, but no one picked up. "She cannot let me down on a night like this!" He called one of his guards to go and look for her as quickly as possible. The guard ran off searching for her.

Kate was still under the desk thinking about what had happened between her and Jack. The same question of why he decided to save her kept replaying in her head like a broken CD. She couldn't stop thinking about his face when he was looking at her after he rescued her.

It was a confusing, scared, yet somehow, a non threatening feeling she had about him."Why am I feeling this way?" She wondered. She looked at her cell phone and saw that her uncle had tried to call her. Then she could see the clock on the screen, and by what it read, it told her the auction had been going on for twelve minutes already. "Oh no!" She cried. She came out from her hiding place and quickly exited the building. She found a security guard approaching her. She wondered if they had heard her cry earlier from the storage room or if they where coming to tell her that Jack had been detained. "Kate, your uncle has sent me to get you." He said extending a hand to her. What he said surprised her but also relieved her in a way. "Oh, yes, the auction... I'm sorry I made you come out here to get me, let's get back." She replied, trying not to sound nervous. "Alright then," he replied, taking her by the hand. As they walked back, she noticed a man in a trench coat standing by the railing of the ship watching her walk by. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that it was Jack. She quickly looked away still not sure what to think of him.

After the auction had ended, Kate completely avoided Michael and went straight to her room to sleep. As she lied in her bed wide awake, she couldn't get Jack out of her head. Her confusion was driving her crazy. "I wonder what would have happened if I didn't run away so quickly." She said out loud. Then a voice in her heart said: "Maybe he isn't what people claim him to be." She shook her head and buried it in her pillow trying to sleep it off, but she couldn't sleep a wink, not with what she was thinking about. She wanted some closure on her questions about him. She decided the only way to do that was to find him the next morning, and talk to him. It was a risky idea, one that was driven by impulsive thinking, but she wanted to know more about him. "I better not tell anyone about what happened yet until I see him again." With that she turned over and fell asleep with her mind finally at ease.


	4. There's more than meets the eye

Chapter four there's more than meets the eye

The next morning Kate woke up early to especially since she wanted to talk to Jack that morning. She got dressed and headed out of her cabin to begin her day.

Usually, the morning after the auction, the crew would be exhausted, yet the work would be twice their usual load since the auction left the ship in a messy unorganized state, that required all to help clean and fix it back to it's usual self. No one wanted to do anything that day but the weather was growing cold and the passengers needed to be taken care of so it was a forced struggle for the crew. Michael was one of the many people who was stuck cleaning up the ballroom for the upcoming balls held for the wealthy. It was a disastrous mess in that room nothing had been cleaned since the auction had ended at one in the morning. As Michael began to pick up dirty dishes, he noticed Kate had a strange look on her face. She looked nervous, shocked, a bit scared and razzled. He walked over to her and offered to take her tub of dirty dishes, but she refused and turned away from him. Michael knew something was wrong without her even having to say a word. One reason was that whenever Kate had something bothering her, she did a bad job pretending to hide it from him, and the second reason was that Kate was a horrible liar and couldn't keep her story straight.

He tried to follow her so he could talk to her but she kept moving away from him. She knew he was onto her but she didn't want to tell him about Jack just yet unless there was a problem. He kept following her until he ended up cornering her against the wall. "I have you pinned now talk," he said sharply. "Why so cold this morning?" She asked trying to change the subject. "My feet hurt, I'm tired, I have a full days work ahead of me and I have only had three hours of sleep. Now tell me what the problem is with you!" He demanded. She sighed for a moment thinking carefully about her next chosen words, then spoke. "All I can tell you is that it's something I need to figure out, then I might tell you." She replied. That pretty much told him to back off and let her deal with it on her own. "Fine, but eventually I may find out. Your horrible at bending the truth ya know." He stated as he walked off to pick up more dishes. As soon as he was out of her sight, she dropped her bin off at the nearest service cart and left the ballroom, but watchful eyes where on her as Michael watched her run past him as she was exiting the ballroom. "She's acting really strange." He declared.

Jack was in his room sitting alone on his bed thinking to himself about the girl he saved the night before. "Oh no! She's gonna tell the captain everything! I'm busted! The whole mission's busted!" He cried. That's when Eddy came back in after his morning bath. "Good morning Jack, how are you today?" He asked. Jack looked at him with a fake smile and wide eyes trying not to look like something was panicking him. "I'm good!" He replied. Eddy wasn't a fool, he knew Jack was troubled. "Want to talk about something man?" He asked. "'cause if you do, you better start before Melman comes in here with his pancake train again." Jack looked away from him and grabbed his coat. "No, I'm fine, I just need to take care of something now, so I'll be back soon." And with that, he was gone. Eddy didn't think much of it. Surely he knew his friend would let him know if he was upset about something. So he just laid down and drifted off to sleep.

Jack actually didn't have anything to do, but to worry about his situation he had gotten himself into. He walked to his usual spot and sat down on one of the benches. He did what he had always done when he was upset,... draw. He began to trace the sky and the birds flying in it.

As Kate was walking across the ship, she couldn't help but feel curious about Jack. He didn't seem like the murderous type but they never do if you think about it for a moment. She looked for anyone that looked shady and tall. She saw people in cloaks, hats, raincoats and blazers, but no one who wore a large article of clothing to protect himself from the cold weather was mister Dawson. "Maybe I scared him away," she thought. She decided to check one last area that wasn't close by the storage room where he saved her the previous night. She walked all the way to the front of the ship and there sitting on a bench, was a young man drawing in his drawing pad. He wasn't wearing any cloak to cover his body or face just his regular clothing. She knew right away it was him. He had the kind of face you couldn't ever forget even after seeing it one time. She gulped down some refreshing sea air and slowly began to approach him. As she walked, her stomach began to churn and bubble up from nervousness. "Is this a smart idea?" She wondered over and over again, but she knew she needed to know if he was truly a threat or not. So she bravely kept going forward even with her gut telling her no.

Jack didn't even notice she was approaching him until the wind blew the smell of roses under his nose. The smell of her perfume she was also wearing that previous night. He quickly turned his head over to the sight of the young woman he rescued approaching him. He was surprised to see her coming over to see him knowing full well of who he was. He stared at her wondering what she could possibly want other than to try to detain him. He decided to stay where he was and let her come over for whatever reasons she had, but he kept himself ready to run if she was gonna try to capture him in any way. His eyes followed her's as she got closer and closer. She stopped when she was about three feet away from him. The two stared at each other for a couple of awkward minutes before anyone had the courage to speak the first words. Finally, Kate got the nerve to say hello. "Hi," she said almost in a whisper. "Hello," Jack replied almost as quietly. Kate was afraid of looking to nice and innocent in case he thought she was an easy murder target, so she decided to ask him straight out why he was on board with no holding back. She looked at him sharply and began her discourse. "I want to know right now why your on board! I know who you are and what you have done to my uncle in the past. You can't fool me so you better tell me why your here and why I shouldn't tell security on you!" Jack wasn't surprised to see her act so aggressive towards him, who wouldn't? He replied to her in a calm and quiet voice, "I'm here to get back home to England. You see miss, I am a poor man who had to win a ticket through a poker game to get here. Otherwise, you wouldn't be talking to me today. I came here an alone young single man down on his luck. I'm not here to cause any problem for you or your apparent uncle, only to get back home and try to get on my feet." Kate wasn't convinced yet, but the sound of his gentle voice was calming her nerves down.

"Then why where you in the storage room last night? Where you the one messing with the electrical power?" She asked, still trying to sound angry and tough. "Power? I don't know how to even fix a leak in a sink let alone figure out how to short circuit a power supply without killing myself in the process. I was just hiding from some guards before they saw me. Even though I'm hear with no bad intentions, that doesn't mean I'm welcome." He replied. Kate was surprised by his reply. "Can he be trusted?" She kept wondering. Jack made an effort to stand up and try to shake her hand. "We haven't had a proper greeting, my name is Jack William Dawson." He said as he extended a hand for her's. Kate still wasn't sure but she went ahead and introduced herself. "My name Is Amanda Kate Rowten, but you can call me Kate, everyone who knows me does." She replied shaking his hand. It felt warm and strong yet soft. She couldn't bring herself to letting go of it and caught herself holding it longer then it was welcomed. She immediately let go with a slight blush of pink on her face. There was an awkward silence between the two for a few moments. Finally, being able to speak after her slight embarrassment, Kate said nervously, "thank you for saving me last night, and I'm sorry I ran away from you like that." Jack was happy to hear her thank him. That meant she was comfortable enough to be around him. "It's okay, I don't blame you for being scared. I mean, who wouldn't be with an ex con on board right?" He replied trying to lighten the mood. Kate actually felt comfortable around him, which is weird and far beyond normal, when facing a criminal who once stole almost everything of value on the boat. "Can we start over then?" She asked, hoping he wasn't angry with her. "Sure, no hard feelings." He replied, shaking her hand once more. She blushed when he did this so suddenly. She hid her face feeling like a kid for blushing like that. Jack felt comfortable in her company and thought she was pretty. "So, what are you doing for the rest of the day?" He asked. "Well, I'm working until my break at three." She replied. "Well if you want, would you like to meet me here around your break? Maybe we could start off on the right foot and get to know each other. "He asked, while brushing his hair behind his ear. She couldn't believe it, but she actually wanted to see him again. "Sure, I'll see you at three." She replied happily. Jack smiled and gave out a small chuckle making himself look like a nerd. "Okay, see ya." He said, while putting his cloak back on. As he walked away, he stopped to ask one final favor of her. "Please don't tell anyone who I am okay? It needs to be on the Dl (meaning down low)." Sure, I won't tell." She replied. He walked away after that.

Kate felt excited but also weird. "I can't believe I have a date with a kleptomaniac!" In a strange way, she kinda liked him and didn't feel threatened by him at all. She wanted to give him a chance. She also thought it would be a good idea to meet him later to really see the man under the mask. "It probably won't hurt to find out what I need to know about him just to be sure he's safe for the other passengers to be around." She stated. She hurried back to her duties before her afternoon with Jack.

Jack was hurrying back to his room needing to tell Eddy that someone on the deck discovered him. He threw the door open and found Eddy still asleep in his bed. Jack ran over to him and began to shake him. Eddy woke up and began to yell. He pushed Jack aside and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up. "What are you doing Jack?" He cried. The look on Jack's face was one of panic. "Eddy, we have a serious problem that I caused." He stated. "What happens when I'm asleep?" Eddy replied trying to wake up more. "Eddy, I saved a girl yesterday from being killed by a machine when I was hiding in the storage room, and she immediately knew who I was and freaked!" Eddy's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet. He raced over to his small bag and began to stuff it back up with his stuff. "What are you doing?" Jack cried, pulling his hair. "I'm leaving before the cops get us! Face it man, were busted!" Eddy replied as he ran for the door. Jack ran in front of him blocking him off from it. He began to push Eddy back as Eddy tried to shove him out of the way. "Jack let me through!" He cried frantically, trying to get out.

Jack kneed him in the stomach making him bend down holding himself in pain. That's when Jack tucked his head up under his arm and had him in a choke hole. "Jack let go!" He struggled to cry to his friend. Jack bent down to his level and whispered in his ear. "Look, I met up with her again today and I think I gained her trust .I didn't tell her about you and she swore not to tell anybody about me!" Eddy stopped struggling more now that he heard what he said. "Who is she exactly?" Asked Eddy. "She's the captain's niece, her name is Kate she looks young. I'm supposed to meet her this afternoon to get to know her better." He explained. This gave Eddy a bright idea. He shook Jack's grip off of him, and began to explain to him his sudden idea. "Jack, have you considered getting her to give out some info on the goods where here to steal?" Asked Eddy. The words that came out of his mouth made Jack shutter to here. "Eddy, she's just a young lady, I don't want to use her like that!" He replied. "Jack, we might be able to get the heist pulled off sooner than planned." Eddy replied. "Come on, consider where we would be in a few weeks. You know what they say, strike when the iron is hot." Jack wasn't sure if that was a good idea. He actually liked Kate and wasn't sure if he wanted to try this idea of Eddy's. w After all, he did save her life. "I don't know," he replied softly.

He walked to the end of the room and stared out the window that looked out into ocean. Eddy approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, it's better if we get her through the heist, she'd be safer that way if we got it done quicker. "Eddy explained." I just don't know, I swore I would never do anything like that again after what happened with her uncle. But now,you want me to do it to his niece...I just don't know if I can do that especially to a young girl like herself."Jack Eddy,he didn't care what it took to get himself out of the stealing business,and he was gonna do whatever it took to make sure he got out. He knew he needed to convince Jack to do it even though he knew it was bad, but it was the only way to him to get out of the business easily. He placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and looked at him face to face. The serious look in his eyes made Jack stare right back at him. "Jack, we're in trouble if this heist isn't pulled off soon, we need to get out or we'll die." He said bluntly. "Look, I know you regret what happened last time, but you need to put your past behind you and do what you need to for the best." Jack pulled away and walked across the room arms folded and facing the wall with anger in his eyes. "Your asking me to do something I swore I would never do again!" He cried angrily. "I had a hard time dealing with the fact that I used that man for our sport, the guilt was almost to much. Why do you think I wanted to stop this life style? It hurts people and it can even kill them. Can you possibly name one thing that may be worth me even considering this idea?" Eddy wasn't sure how to respond to his comments, but a thought came to his mind."Jack, the boss has his eye on us, do you really want him to come down here thinking we chickened out, and have him come on board and kill everybody including us?" Jack went from ignoring him to becoming fixed on what he was saying to him.

He turned around with widened eyes and stared at him with the look of concern coming over his face. "I can't believe I forgot about that!" He replied. "Yeah, if he suspects us being chicken or if he thinks we're trying to run off with the stuff for ourselves, there's no doubt he'll invade and kill us along with the hundreds of others on board. He's got people he'll out number us!" Eddy cried. "I'm not asking you to kill her Jack, I'm just asking you to pump out some info from her." With all this potential danger to consider, Jack had an important decision to make. It was one of those decisions where you have two bad choices and you have to figure out which one is the least of the worst. Well, Jack thought about it long and hard and finally decided, even though it was against his morals, to do what he knew was the best idea to keep himself and everybody he knew alive. "Fine, I'll get her to confess where the most valuable furniture, jewels, paintings and anything this boat may have on it, and I'll let you know so we can start making a plan for an early heist. "Eddy gave him a hug knowing this was going to be a hard thing for him to do. "Your doing the right thing Jack," he said, trying to comfort his stressed friend. "But how can this wrong make a right?"He replied in a sad tone.

As the sun began to move across the sky, the hour of two had passed by like the speed of light. Now it was about two forty five in the afternoon and Kate had been rushing through her chores. She and Michael where in charge of cleaning the whole ballroom along with a few other crew members, so that the planners and caterers could come in and prepare it for the snow owl ball in the next couple of days. The snow owl ball was a ball where mainly rich people, since they where the only ones financially able to attend it, would go to raise money for the endangered snow owl. Downstairs below the ballroom, is where the middle class or lower class had a big party with food and a live band, but it was a smaller space and usually a lot more people where down stairs then up. Since that area had not been used for anything other then storage for the items for the previous auction, no one felt they needed to clean it. Even though the cob webs clearly where a sign of much needed tlc. Michael picked up a few chairs on the stage and began to carry them towards the stairs that led to the room below the ballroom. When he got to the door, he forgot that it was locked and he hadn't a key with him. "Hey Kate! Do you have the key to the basement?" He cried, but Kate was so into her work, she didn't hear him at all. "Hey!" He cried again, but still, no answer just the sound of workers working. He rolled his eyes and abandoned the chairs to see what she was doing. He walked back up the stairs and found her mopping the floor so fast as if her very life depended on it. "Kate!" He cried impatiently, but she didn't hear him. He looked to see if she was wearing her mp3 player,but the only thing he could see on her ears where her golden hoop earrings. He thought she was ignoring him for some unknown reason, so he walked right up to her as she was bending down to tie a lace on her boot and blew a whistle he wore around his neck loudly. She jumped startled by the sound of it. She looked up to see a very angry looking Michael standing above her. "What?"She asked. "Why are you ignoring me?" He asked. She was confused with what he was saying, 'cause she had no idea how much she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, since she was hurrying to get to her break.

"Ignoring you? Why would I do that?" She asked, with confusion on her face. "Oh come on Kate, I called you twice to come down the stairs and unlock the basement door and you totally ignored me!" He explained, waving his arms in the air. Then she realized that she hadn't been paying attention. "I'm sorry Michael, I've been in a hurry to get to my break, that's all." She explained. "You've been like this all day, doing nothing but work, clean and take room calls. You haven't said a word to me, and you've been acting strange since yesterday. What's going on with you? You know you can tell me if something is wrong." He said, trying to show her how concerned he was getting. She felt bad about keeping the secret about Jack from him, but until she knew he was safe to be around, she had to keep it from him. Otherwise, he was going to freak out and tell. Especially since he had previously shown great fear of him before. "Michael, if I need help, of course I know I can go to you. My mind has just been racing about a lot of things I'm concerned about. Just give me some time to get things straight, and I promise I'll be okay... Alright?" She replied in a calmer tone. Michael still had a feeling she was hiding something from him, but decided to leave her alone." Okay, but you better tell me if there's any problem you got it girl?" He replied in a stern tone. "I promise bro," she replied. Michael looked down at his watch and smiled. "Hey! It's break time! Time to get my eat on!" He cried happily. Kate dashed out the door after hearing it was about three o clock. Michael stared as she disappeared into the crowd. "I have a feeling I'm going to find out soon what the problem, I know she's hiding from me is!" He thought to himself. After that brief thought, he picked up his jacket and left to take his break.

Kate picked up some sandwiches for her and Jack to have for their lunch, and began to search for him. She figured he was in the sport where she had found him earlier that day. As she made her way to the front of the ship, she kept looking over her shoulder making sure Michael. or anyone who worked on the ship, wasn't watching her or following her. Once she got to the front, she noticed that the whole area was completely deserted. No one was there at all, not even the smallest child. She did a walk around to see if Jack was around, but couldn't find him anywhere. "Where is he?" She wondered. She was about to leave and look in a different spot, when a young man standing farther away from here caught her eye. She headed over to see who it was.

Jack was standing at the edge of the boat thinking about what he was about to do. "I need to agree not to allow her to grow on me. This is no time to make friends." He thought to himself. That's when he smelled the roses again. He looked in the direction it was coming from and saw her approaching him. "Hi! I thought you weren't going to show up!" He said happily. "No, I always keep my word." She replied. They shook hands and sat down on a bench together. He took off his coat and shook his head waving his blonde hair in the wind. Kate couldn't help but stare at him. He caught her looking at him and she quickly looked away. "I have some food for you Jack," she said as she reached into the basket she kept the food in. Jack was surprised to hear this. "You brought me something to eat?" He replied in a surprised tone. "Well sure, it's lunch right? Besides, I'm not going to make you go steal food for us to eat." She said cracking a smile. Jack grinned and hid some cinnamon rolls he stole from a restaurant behind his back. "Yeah, don't want to do that!" He replied as he stuffed them in his back pockets. She handed him one of the foot longs and one of the bottles of water. He took the food from her and looked up at her with a confused look on his face. "Why did you do this for me?" He asked. "Why wouldn't I? I feel bad that we got off to a rough start and plus, I'm not going to make you get our lunch. This is my treat!" She replied. All his life, Jack had never been treated kindly by anyone who had more money then he had, and now, he was being fed by someone who feared him once and knew the bad that he had done. He opened up the sandwich wrapper and began to eat fast and taking very large bites. It was gross for her to watch, but she felt bad that he hadn't had a good meal to eat and that was the reason why he was eating so fast. "I hope you like turkey, that's all they had left." She said trying to start a conversation. Jack immediately stopped eating and thanked her.

"Oh, where are my manners, thank you so much for this delicious meal!" He said happily. She smiled and took a sip of her water. "It's no problem, I'm very happy to do it." She replied. She cleared her throat and began a conversation with him trying not to let him know she was still suspicious of him. "So, how did you get passed security?" She asked. "Oh ya know, what every con man has to do to get by, put on a disguise and give a fake name." He replied. "Do you have to do that all the time?" She asked. "When I'm in area's where I'm wanted but other then that, nope!" He replied. "It must take a lot out of you to have to do that all the time. "She replied. "It can, but it's better that, then locked behind bars in a jail cell. "He replied with a smile. "I'm really enjoying this sandwich you brought me, thanks a lot." She smiled happy to see she made him happy. "Your welcome Jack." She replied. The two sat and talked for about two hours. He told her all about his drawings and where he learned to draw them, while she told him about her future career in medicine. "A career in medicine sounds pretty interesting, where anybody in your family doctors?" He asked. "No, but my younger sister Sarah is a marine Biologist, and has learned many things in the veterinary field." She replied. "Awesome," He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost six, he had to get back to his room since the boat was soon going to be swarming with guards for night time. "Oh man! I need to run!" He cried as he jolted up from his seat while putting his cloak on. "Wait a minute, where are you going now?" She asked. "I have to hide from the night guards, but I had an awesome time with you." He replied shaking her hand. He held onto it for a moment and looked at her face that looked a little upset. "How about we see each other tomorrow, I'll show you some of my work. "He suggested. She immediately replied without thinking, "okay, I'll see you same time same place then." "Okay," he replied. He let go of her hand and ran off placing the hood over his head. She looked down to his seat and saw his drawing pen on the bench. she picked it up and tried to call him to tell him he left it, but he was already gone disappeared into the crowds. She looked down at it and saw he had carved his name on it by the tip. She smiled and stuck it in her pocket. "I'll hold onto this for him until tomorrow." She picked up her bag and left the deck to finish her work. As she walked back to her station, she couldn't stop thinking about the feeling of his hand on her's when they shared a brief moment locked that way. It felt unlike anything she had ever felt in her life. Almost breathtaking for something as simple as a handshake. "I don't think he's dangerous at all," she thought. "He seems so innocent inside and out, but I'll see how it goes tomorrow before I decide." After that brief thought, she smiled as she looked at the setting sun beyond the waves and took in a deep breath.


	5. The decision

Chapter five the decision

Jack made it back to his cabin quickly. He unlocked the door and ran in. Eddy was sitting on his bed watching his mini TV and Melman was no where to be seen. Eddy saw his friend standing in the entrance locking the door and got up to give him some good news. "Jack! Your not gonna believe the news I have for you! First off though, how was your date?" "It was not a date Eddy, remember? It's business." He replied. "Well did it go okay? She wasn't suspicious?" Asked Eddy. "No, but I'm going to see her again tomorrow just to be sure she has trust in me." He replied lying down on his bed. "What news do you have?" He asked, closing his eyes. "I contacted the boss, " he replied. Jack's eyes immediately opened wide with terror. "What?" He replied as he quickly sat up. "Yeah, I told him about the girl you met, and he was thrilled with the plan we came up with!" He replied happily. "Why did you tell him about our plan? I don't even know if she fully trusts me yet!" Jack cried. "Jack, you got charm, she won't be able to resist ya. And besides, even if you couldn't get her to trust you with your charm, then you'd find a different way after hearing what the boss said. "Eddy replied. Jack didn't like any of what he was saying.

"What did he say?" Asked a nervous Jack. "Well, after I told him about the girl being the captains niece and having access to the loot we want, he figured she knows where the really valuable hidden stuff is too, so he said you need to get her to spill where the big safe is." Eddy explained. "Big safe?" Jack replied, with an eyebrow raised. "There's no safe on this ship!" "Yeah there is, how else do you think the captain is storing his money?" Eddy replied. Jack wasn't sure if there was a safe, and he certainly had no idea how he was going to get her to confess where the safe was, if there was one, without getting suspicious of him. "Eddy, let's say there is a safe, how do you expect me to get her to tell me without blowing our cover?" Asked Jack in a serious tone. "That's your job, my job is to keep the boss updated about what's going on." Eddy replied.

Jack closed his eyes and sighed trying to ease the stress building up inside. "What else did he say?" He asked, hoping it wasn't anything bad. "Well, he said since we came up with this awesome plan, that when we land in England, instead of him coming on board and keeping us here to assist him as planned, he'll pay us BIG money, and he'll set us free on spot!" Eddy cried with excitment. The sound of those last few words that came out of his mouth made Jack's stomach ache with excitement and shock. "Are you serious?" He asked with wide eyes. Eddy smiled and opened his arms out for a hug. "Yeah!"He replied. Jack smiled and jumped off his bed to hug Eddy. The two cheered and danced happy to feel their freedom fast approaching. "You gotta be kiddin' me!" Jack cried happily. "No!" Eddy replied. They danced around the room with joy. As they danced, Jack began to think about Kate and what would happen to her once the heist began. He stopped dancing and starting thinking about her. Eddy saw him staring blankly into space and went over to see if he was okay. "Jack, you alright buddy?" He asked. It took a moment for him to reply and when he did, his words shocked Eddy. "Eddy, I'm worried about what will happen to Kate once the heist starts. The plan was to raid the whole boat once the ship is in the middle of the ocean enroute to Spain."He explained. Eddy put a hand on his shoulder to comfort his friend. "Jack, there is nothing we can do about this now, he said specifically he won't hurt anybody and you know the boss has been truthful in all his promises." He replied.

Jack stayed silent feeling guilty and sad for what he was doing. "Look Jack, we can't miss out on our freedom, we have a chance to be free and if we don't take it now, plus the big payout he's offering, you'll never have the ability to become an artist ... That's your dream." Jack looked at him with a sad look on his face. "I just don't know," he replied in a sad voice. "He's gonna pay us one hundred thousand dollars instead of only two thousand each, that's enough for us to live decent until we get on our feet. "Eddy added .Jack was surprised to the amount of money the boss was offering. He looked at Eddy with a surprised look on his face. "That much?" He askedin a surprised tone. Eddy cracked a smile and nodded his head. Jack was so surprised about how much money he was going to get, he had to sit down to prevent himself from passing out. His eyes stared blankly into space as he tried to process all that was said to him. Eddy sat down beside him with a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be free and taken care of bud," Eddy said in a calmer tone. Now Jack wasn't one to love money, but he knew that he needed it to get on his feet, and that was more then enough. The sound of the offer kept replaying in his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about where he would be later on after he got off the boat.

Imagine, happiness, just a few weeks away right where you can see it, but his mind also couldn't stop thinking about the promise he made to himself. He remembered making a vow to never use somebody like a cheap piece of meat again for his own personal gain. He also couldn't get his mind off of how it would affect her. The fear of having many armed men on board out in the middle of the Atlantic ocean with no ability to get help. What kind of fear and devestating effect it would have on her? Especially knowing he was the one who caused it all to happen? He shook his head bringing himself back into reality and looked into Eddy's eyes. "Ed, you know I want to be free as much as you do, but I can't put anybody through what I put the captain through again." Jack replied. Eddy sighed and thought about what he was going to say to him next. He thought for a minute and spoke up. "Jack, thanks to your parents, you've had misery all your life! Your dad hated you and kicked you out, and your mother did nothing to help you. You've been a drifter all your life because of them and now you want to short change yourself? Buddy, Kate will be fine, the boss promised he wouldn't hurt anybody and I specifically said that you didn't want her hurt, and he agreed to go easy on her. Buddy, come on,... do this for yourself." Jack closed his eyes trying to hold back tears, as memories of his childhood flooded back into his mind.

He remembered being rejected by his father, and physically thrown out of his house when he was only sixteen. He could also remember his mother pretending she didn't know him when she was out in public. He could remember her saying: "I don't know you," as he was on his hands and knees begging for her to take him back home. Eddy saw a tear coming down his cheek and figured he went to far. He hugged his friend tightly comforting him. "It's okay bud, just sleep on it tonight and let me know in the morning." Eddy said in a comforting tone. Jack just nodded his head in response unable to speak. That's when Melman came walking in after doing his laundry. He saw the two men embracing one another and quickly left the room to give them privacy. As he walked away he thought to himself. "Now I know why those two are so close."

In the late hour's of the night, Jack was tossing and turning in his bed asleep. He was having a horrifying nightmare and was trying to wake up.

(Jack's dream)

In a modern London suburb, there was a big house that looked light and beautiful on the outside, but inside it was dark and ugly. A man about forty three years old, was throwing objects off of tables and breaking furniture, trying to get to a young teenage boy who was trying to run from him. A woman about thirty eight years old was trying to stop the man from breaking anything else. "You are a disgrace to this family!" The man cried in rage. "I can't believe you would bring these things into my household! You get out now! "He cried. The boy had a tear running down his cheek as he made his way to the door. The man, who was his apparent father followed him screaming at him to leave and not come back. Before the boy opened the front door, he looked back at the woman who was his mother, with a frightened look of "Help me," on his face, but she nodded her head and said, "I'm so sorry Jack," with that, the man came over and grabbed Jack by the arm. He opened the door and threw him out. He landed on the concrete walkway and hit his head knocking out one of his back teeth. It laid in front of him in a puddle of blood that came from his mouth and cheek. He looked back at the door and saw that it was shut and locked. The porch light was off and it was late at night. It was dark and scary outside. He looked around and saw there was no one there to help him. He felt cold, scared,... and alone.

Jack woke up with a gasp and covered in sweat. He sat up and rubbed his eyes trying to adjust them. He covered his face with his hands as he began to weep. He couldn't believe he dreamt about what had happened to him as a young boy. He felt absolute anger towards his parent's and sadness over his life. He began to think about what Eddy had said to him several hours before. " Jack, thanks to your parents, you've had misery all your life! Your dad hated you and kicked you out, and your mother did nothing to help you. You've been a drifter all your life because of them and now you want to short change yourself?" He began to think about what he could have if he got that money, then he could become a painter and show his parents he turned out better without them. Eddy awoke and saw him crying. He got up quietly trying not to wake Melman and hurried over to comfort him. "Jack, what's wrong?" He whispered placing a hand around him. Jack looked over at him with eyes red and full of tears, and replied back to him in a sad and angry tone, "I'll do it," Eddy was surprised with him. "What? You will? Why have you decided to do it?" Asked Eddy. "I have to Eddo, like you said, I need to do this for myself." Eddy didn't now what to say, but he was happy that Jack was willing to do it now.


	6. The golden pen

Chapter six the golden pen

The next day, Kate was once again up bright and early to get through her work as soon as she could. As she sat down at her vanity table after her shower to fix her hair and make-up, she began to stare at her face blankly in a deep state of thought. "What am I doing!" She thought, as she touched her cheeks with her cold hands. "I need to be realistic, what if he's a bad guy? I can't let my guard diwn for a second."

The plan was to see him one last time then tell Michael about him being on board. She wanted Michael to know so if he caught him, he wouldn't arrest him. Though convincing him Jack was safe to be around was going to be easier said than done, especially after almost wetting the bed over a shadow he could see through his window. Seeing Jack in the flesh was a guaranteed stroke. But never the less, he needed to know andone way or another he was going to know.

She hurried and got herself ready for the day and left her cabin.

Making her way for the staff lounge, she couldn't help but stare at every man that passed by wearing a trench coat. Even if they had wives wioth them, she couldn't help but look. "Stop! People are gonna get suspicious!" She thought, taking her eeys off of a passer byer. She pushed the doors of the lounge aside and went straight for the refridgerator for the apple juice the ship usually was stocked with. Michael was sitting at the breakfast table eating some cookies and having some coffee. "Hey," he said with a full mouth. "Hi, how are you this morning?" She asked, pouring herself some juice and grabbing an apple from a bowl. "I'm tired, work was way to long yesterday, I can't believe the snow owl ball is coming up in two days! I can't push myself to work on that after the stupid auction!" Kate totally forgot the ball was coming up, now she definitely needed to tell him about Jack since she probably couldn't see him while preparing for the event, it would be nice to have some help hiding him away until they got to England. She looked at her pale and tired friend trying to fight the urge to tell him now. He saw her staring and said in a sleepy tone, "why are you looking at me? I know I look terrible," "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm not staring at you because of your looks, which by the way aren't terrible, I just feel bad that your so tired. I don't want to deal with the snow owl ball now either."

Michael nodded his head in agreement. "Well, we have to whether we like it or not, which is why I need to go start work now so hopefully I can have my break at my usual time." Michael said, getting up and tossing his paper cup into a garbage can. "You coming?" He asked, halfway out the door. "No, I need to eat a little, then I'll join you in the ballroom." She replied. "Okay, see ya." He left her all alone in the lounge, though she didn't mind it. She needed time to think about her situation. "He could just completely freak out if I introduce him to Jack," she thought, carefully examining the problem from every angle. "But he needs to know, it's not like I have a better chance telling anybody else. He may be my only hope to getting Jack to England safely."

Jack was awake in his room still in bed, but sitting up. Sleep was absent to him since his nightmare, but he did manage to fall back asleep after a good dour hour talk with Eddy about his messed up childhood.

Jack never liked to talk about his childhood, since it brought back dreadful memories of the abuse and torment he recieved, but who can you trust in if you can't trust the only friend and family you have? Jack had lost contact with his parents a long time ago, and has yet to make any effort to reach out to them. His dad was a bitter drunk and his mom was always running around on his dad. He himself grew up to be a troublemaker in school, and a thug in secret. He didn't share to much of his past with anyone, not even Eddy was permitted to know the really dark secrets he kept locked away in the chambers of his heart. The only thing he would tell Eddy was that he left to be 'free from it all'.

Eddy had left to shower a few minutes before Jack woke up, and Melman was absent due to unknown reasons. But Jack didn;t care where Melman was as long as he stopped wearing short shorts.

He could see clearly out his window from where he was. It looked like there was a shark swimming in the distance. Some highly adaptable sharks can live in the cold oceans like the Atlantic. The one he was looking at was a Greenland shark. Greenland sharks can live in frigide cold water and hunt just as fast and brutal as their cousins living in warmer climates. Jack had a fear of sharks, but also a very big fascination. He hoped to his feet and hurried over to the window to see the passing by shark. Greenland sharks grow to be around 21 feet, and like to hunt the traditional animals any other meat eating shark with sharp teeth would want. Though the shars aren't supposed to be agrressive towads humans., Jack still knew that a shark was a shark, and instincts where gonna be ;istened to before the anything else. As the shark approached the window, Jack began to step back as he looked up at the massive body.

Eddy came in quietly thinking Jack was asleep, but was happy to fin hims awake and watching the water. "Good, maybe sleep helped him out a but." He thought, walking over happily to his friend. Jack didn't hear him come in though, he was to caught up in the size of the fast approaching shark. "Whoa," he said, staring blankly at the huge creature. Eddy didn't notice the shark swimming over to the window until he looked up. "Ah!" He cried, juming back from surprise. " Ah!" Jack screamed, quickly looking around to see what the source of the shouts where. "Eddy!" He cried, "your such a loser! You almost gave me a heartattack!" "Sorry, I didn;t know you where looking at a shark man!" Eddy replied. Jack looked back at the winow and saw that the shark had passed on by. "Scary death machines!" He stated.

"Glad to see you up and about man, I was afraid of your mental health." Eddy said with a sigh of relief. "Yeah well I need to be up and ready for today." He replied, going back over to his bubk to make it. "Where is melman?" He asked, as he straightened out the loose and wrinkled covers "He is eating breakfast with some seniors in a diner right now, I think he's been there since three in the morning." "Can't afford a six o clock in the morning meal?" "No, he's like us, poor and willing to do whatever you have to to get food!" Eddy said with a laugh. "When are you meeting the girl?" "I'm meeting her around the same time as yesterday, and in the same place. I'm going to show her some of my work." "That's cool bro," Eddy replied.

Jack went back to his bunk and fixed the bed. He and Eddy both decided not to let room service in for identity security, so they where stuck cleaning their own space. It was hard to move around though, due to all of Melman''s luggae lying everywhere in an already small room no bigger than thirty square feet. "You know what?" Said Jack, as he struggled to walk around Melman's stuff. "Melman is a woman! He has to have all his stuff with him." "It's probably to fix his hair and make-up!" Eddy replied with a laugh. Right then, Melman came back and smelled really bad. "Oh!" Eddy cried, hopping back after smelling Melman. "Why do you smell like garbage!" Melman smelled his shirt, but couldn't detect any obvious odors. "I don't smell anything, you guys are smell sensitive!" Jack went over and smelled him slightly and could tell right away what it was. "Melman, where you at the petting zoo by any chance?" Asked Jack.

The ship had a small petting zoo for kids, and it was free admission early in the morning. It didn;t have a lot of animals, just the ones they could get to adapt to boat life. They had a few goats, but mainly sheep and lambs. There was also one donkey.

"Yeah, I was playing with the donkey!" Melman replied happily. "Oh! Now our room is gonna smell like donkey and goat!" Eddy cried, covering his nose with his shirt collar. "Well I'm sorry if you don't like baby animals! But some people in this world care about little creatures!" Melman replied feeling offended. "Melman, ever since we've moved in with you, my lap has been burned, we've been woken up by your tiger growl snoaring, and now your going to make this barely ventalated room smell like a barn yard!" Jack replied, covering his mouth and nose with his hands. "Well mister artist, perhaps I need to move if you and mister Bird don't like me." Melman stated firmly. Eddy glared at Jack urging him to kick Melman out, but Jack refused and apologized to him. "Sorry Melman, just woke up in a bad mood today." Said Jack uncovering his nose. The smell that was coming off of Melman made his eyes water. "What about Eddy?"

Melman asked pointing at an angry looking Eddy. "He's always waking up in a mood." Jack replied sarcastically. Eddy rolled his eyes and stepped out of the room refusing to respond to Jacks comments. Jack picked up his cloak and his case that contained all his art things and prepared himself to leave. He quickly checked his case to see if his drawing pad was in it, but noticed that his good drzwing pen was missing. "Hey Melman, have you see a little golden pen?" Asked Jack, while searching all in his case for the missing tool. "No," Melman replied shrugging his shoulders. "Where did you last see it?"

"I always put it back in my case after i'm done using it, maybe I left it on the deck somewhere." Jack replied, becoming increasingly concerned.

The pen had been given to him by the man who first taught Jack how to draw. The man was a homeless man who had become very wealthy from some comics he wrote for a British news paper. He took Jack in right after Jack was thrown out of his house and allowed him to live there until Jack could get on his own two feet. The first thing the man taught him how to draw was a simple apple tree. Nothing to har yet not to simple, just the way he himself had started out. It took Jack a few weeks to get his hand on the basics of art, but he eventually got it down and was soon drawing harder images like certain wild animals, portraits of people and landscapes. After being brought up under the wing of this kind man for over five months, Jack had soon earned enough money selling artwork on the street corner to leave and make it on his own.

Before he left, the man, who's name by the way was Wyatt Wats, gave Jack several thousand dollars to support him for the next couple of months, and a little golden pen made of 14k gold, and had been passed down to him by his own father. Surprisingly enough, Wyatt's father had the same initials as Jack did, so it had even more of a personal meaning to it for Wyatt, but he had grown to love Jack as his own son which he had never had, for he and his wife Audrey never had a son, but three daughters instead. One of which Jack had grown a crush on and even took out at one point during his stay. So to Wyatt, Jack recieving the golden pen that was over sixty years old, would have been liking passing it down to his own son. The only thing Wyatt told Jack to do with the pen was to: "Kepp it safe and close to your heart, and at some point pass it on to a son or someone you cherish with your entire being."

Those words, impacted Jack and turned his bitterness he grew in his heart towards strangers due to his father, into nothing but upmost respect and love towards those around him.

Jack placed his cloak on and hurried out the door without saying goodbye or letting Melman know where he was going. He was determined to find his pen if it killed him. He decide to look back to all the places where he had been the previous day, to see if he could find it. He became tense and afraid as he made his way up the many stairs for the top deck, since his pen had his initials carved in it, someone with a sharp eye and good instincts could find out he was on the ship if his pen was found by such a person. And it was already known to every passenger on board of who he was. The raid on the boat was legendary and news of it had spread worldwide to other sailors, to warn them of Jacks decietful and sneaky infiltrations.

**Several hours later...**

With no luck, Jack was unable to find his pen. All over he searched including all the places he stole food from, and nothing had been found. After a good three hours of searching, he took a rest on a chair unde rna umbrella and drank from a bottle of water he stole from a kitchen while he searched for the missing pen. "Well, I guess I'll never see it again." Jack said in a tired tone. He felt sad since the pen brought him back good memories of a short yet happy life he had with a family who took him in as one fo their own, but also very scared at the same time for someone to stumble upon it and make a sudden discovery of his presence on the vessle. He sighed and looked out at the raging waters. The sea was very rough that day, and air much colder then it was before. The Atlantic wasn't making the ships voyage through her bitterly cold waters a pleasent one that day. Then he looked up at the sky, and the sight of a flower petal that must have been blown off a nearby plant flew by. Suddenly, he remembered he had a date with Kate around that time, since the sight of the flower petal reminded him of Kate's rose scented perfume she always wore. A scent that alerted to him of her coming presence.

He looked at his watch and gasped to see it was almost three o clock, the time he had promised to meet her at and in the same place as well. "Oh man!" He got up and hurried on over to their meeting spot.

It was three ten, and Kate was sitting on the benches they where seated in the previous day for over ten minutes. Waiting and wondering where he was. Then, fear of him being discovered by a passenger or a guard crossed her mind. _Should I go and look for him? _She wondered, as she looked around for the sight of anyone in a big cloak. Then from her right, she heard the sound of fast approaching foot steps coming her way. She turned her head and saw Jack who was panting and wide eyed as he approached her. She stood up to greet him as he stopped a few feet away from her with his hood off his head and his case in hand. He bent over exhausted from his run, panting and struggling to catch his breath. "I am so sorry for being late," he said, in between breaths. "But I have gone and have lost somethign dear to me, and spent a long time looking for it."

"Really? What have you lost Jack?" She asked, while giving him a sip of her cold bottle of water. "A small golden writing pen." Jack replied, taking down large gulps of water. He violently began to cough from taking down to much to drink without enough oxygen. Then Kate suddenly remembered picking up a pen from Jacks seat the previous day, and taking it back with her to her room to return to him the next day. She had it with her in her pocket,a dn reached in to take it out. "Is this the pen your looking for?" She asked, holding it out in the palm of her hand. Jack looked up and saw the shimering golden pen with it's cap and everything still intact. He stood straight up and carefully took it out of her hand. Then he gave her a surprised look.

"Where did you find this?" He asked, staring at the precious metal writing tool. "I found it yesterday on the bench where you had been sitting, and figured it was yours. So I took it back with me and kept it in my cabin for safe keeping until I met up with you today." She replied with a smile. Jack looked at her gentle little face, and blushed. He took her by the hand and shook it vigorously. "Thanks so much, you have no idea how much this pen means to me!" He said happily. She was stunned by his great aprreciation for the simple return of a little pen, but she didn't know what history it had. But she graciously smiled and said in a flatered tone, "your very welcome."

Jack took his cloak off and took a seat on the bench beside Kate. He placed his artist case on his lap and slowly began to open the barley functional locks. By the looks of it, it was made of worn out leather that once looked strong and new, and the locks where barley attatched to the case anymore, making it difficult to close securely. That would explain how he lost his pen in the first place. He took out his drawing pad and handed it to Kate fro her to view. She looked up at him wondering what he wanted her to do with it. "Open it," He happily urged with a bashful smile. She looked down at the worn looking pad and opened it up to a beautiful full colorwed picture of an apple tree, with some blue jays sitting in a nest on the branches singing to their chicks. She gazed at the beautiful detailing and the pastels he used to color it in. "Oh my Jack, this is a beautiful painting. When did you paint this one?" She asked.

"It was one fo the first ones I had ever made. I made it when I was about seventeen." He replied, pointing towards some writing in the top left corner of the drawing. "Do you see the small writing? That is my initials and the date in which I painted it." She looked closely to where his finger was pointing and could see his initals and the day it was drawn on. The scripture was written as follows: JWD on 3/5. But there was no year written down. "Why isn't there a year written by the day?" She asked, feeling curious. "I was taught not to write certain things down, my teacher did it, so did I." He replied. "Why wouldn't he want there to be a year written down?" She asked, looking up at him. He looked back at her and replied, "Because he liked to keep it a mystery. You see, when he sells a piece of his work to a museum or any buyer, he likes to keep them wondering about when his work was done. It't just a personal preference I have grown fond of myself. " He explained.

"Turn the page, there is much more I want you to see." He urged, giving her another bashful smile. She turned the pages and saw many different things. A lot of the drawings where scetches of regular ordinary people he would draw if someone caught his eye. For example, there was a drawing of a man in a military uniform holding his daughter and cuddling her before taking off to war, and there was another where a two children where playing on the beach building sandcastles. The lifelike details and colors almost convinced Kate the drawings where actually pictures taken with a camera. She was stunned and didn't know what to say to him. By the look on her face, Jack knew she was speechless.

"Oh my Jack," Said Kate, flipping through the drawing book. "These drawings are absolutely amazing! How on earth did you leanr how to make such wonderful works of art like this?"

Jack sat down closer beside her and began to tell her some stories explaining his talents with a pen and paintbrush.

"Well you see Miss," He began to explain, taking in a deep breath.

"When I was young, I was thrown out of mu house and was forced to find a new place to live." "Why where you thrown out if you do not mind me asking?" Asked Kate, with intense interest in her eyes.

"For, uh, fighting and just not getting along well with my father." He replied, hoping his quick excuse would convince her. The truth of the matter was, Jack was thrown out for a much darker reason, but he _Never _shared that reason with anyone, not even Eddy. He kept it in the dark corners of his mind locked away where he wouldn't ever have to face those things.

"Anyways, after I left a man named Wyatt wats, a famour painter where I had lived, took me in one day when he found me begging on the srteet corner by a barbour shop where he had just gotten a hair cut." Jack paused taking a moment to reflect. "I remember him reaching a hand down towards me and helping me on my feet. They where so sore since my shoes had rubbed them raw." Kate stared at him as he spoke, unabe to believe such a nice man could have come from such a terrible place and survived.

"He took me back to his home he shared with his wife and kids, and let me live there until I could get back on my feet." "How did your interest in art begin?" Asked Kate, becoming ever more curious. "It started after I went into his art studio, which was off limits to everyone. I didn't know the door was wide open, but once I got a look at the big master piece hanging up on his easel,... I don't know, I guess I was drawn to it." He brushed his hair back that was being blown in his face by the winds that where now picking up speed, and becomd more and more cold as the hours had gone by. "I walked in and looked at it sharply. I didn't touch it though, 'cause it looked wet and like it had been worked on that day. And just as I was about to leave, there he was, standing right behind me, Mister Wats with his grey bushy eyebrow raised, arms crossed and with a half smile on his face. I was sure he would throw me out now that I had seen his latest work."

"What did he say?" "He didn't say a word, I was on my knees of course begging for forgivness, but all he did was smile and help me up. He said that if I was interested in art so much, let him show me a thing or two about it." "And fo course you accepted, right?" Aske dKate, brushing her own hair behind her ear. "Of course, we spent long hours together just discussing all the important lines, shas, details, tools, paints you name it!" Jack trailed off a minute as his mind brought him back to the day he recieved the golden pen from Mister Wats. "And that Miss Rowten, is how I aquired my most prized possession." He held his pen up high, so the suns light would hit it just right to make it's golden finish sparkle. Kate looked up at the delicate tool and wondered still, why such a little pen ment so much to him. "Why does it mean so much to you?" She asked, pointing up at it. Jack handed it gently to her for her to view closley and began explaing why this little instrument ment so much to him. "The pen was given to me the day I decided to leave. You see, this pen was the very first pen he used to draw hiw first picture. A simple apple tree, which was the very first painting I made myself. The pen had been passed down to him from his father, and was told to pass it down to hisfirst born son as his family did as a tradition. Well, obviously I am not his son, but we had f=grown so close we bonded like father and son. I had never had such a relationship with my dad so he meant a great deal to me." He placed his fingers over the pen that sat in the palm of Kate's hand nd turned it over gently to show her the initials carved on it.

"The initials here are the ones of his father: Jason Walt Drakeson. Which closely resemble mine being: Jack William Dawson. They didn't match Mister Wats last name, because he had his name changed to his wifes maiden name when he married her. Otherwise, he would have had the same initials like his father." "So, I suppose all the men in that family shared first, middle and last names beginnign with the letters J,W and D then?" Asked Kate, looking closely at the pens carvings.

"Yes, that would be correct little lady." Jack replied smiling happily. Kate couldn't help but smile back. He had a grin that no one could look at without needing to smile back.

"Anyway, when I was about to leave, I remember him giving me this little black box made to hold a watch. I opened it and discovered the pen. I had known all about the value and tradition behind the pen, and wa shonored when he told me he loved me like a son enough to want to pass it down to me. He told me these exact words after I thanked him for it: 'Jack, remember, give this to your own son or pass it on to someone you truely care about with all your heart and soul, and never forget that you can do anything if you set your mind to it.' And after that, I left. I cried so much as I sailed away from his home." He looked away from her quickly, as if he was trying to fight off coming on tears from those old memories.

Kate didn't know what to say or do to help him. She looked down at the pen and saw how old it looked. It looked like it was made of gold, but it did have tarnish and a little amoutn of green rust in it from constant handling, but it was still a sharp looking pen probably worth more then it was the day it was made. She scooted closer to him and placed a hand on his upper back. He quickly lturned his head back at her, startled by her physical contact. His wide eyed expression told her that he wasn't used to touching like that, and probably not very comfortable with it. She took her hand off his back and placed his precious pen back into his hand, and closed his fingers around it. "Thats a beautiful story Jack, and the memories you hold with this pen are truely those of a real father son relationship." He looked down at her soft and gentle face, and softened up a bit. The tense look on his face became calm, relaxed and comfortable. His cheeks began to turn red from her gaze she had on him. "Thank you so much." He said softly.

With trembling knees, Jack got up and placed his cloak back on in a hurry to leave. He didn;t want to stay around her anymore now after he reacted so strangely to her contact. But Kate's heart began to pound as he made a quick effort to leave, she quickly thought of something big to ask of him since she was definitely sure he was not there to rob the ship of it's riches. She sighed, closed her eyes and asked her question, "Jack, if I'm going to hide you from my uncle for the next two weeks, then I need to tell one other person about you being on board." He looked at her very seriously. "Why do that? I've been pretty well hidden so far." He asked, with a serious gaze.

"Well that's the thing, it isn't easy to keep you away from the guards or anybody who is of higher authority above me. In fact, the security on board is going to grow the closer we get to the night of the snow owl ball." "Snow owl ball?" Jack tilted his head to the side and placed his hands in his pockets. "It's a ball we have every year around this time to benefit the endangered snow owl, and every ball is always sevurly guarded to protect a lot fo the wealthy people on board. " She replied.

He was unsure if her telling a friend was a good idea. He had already risked a lot trying to convince her he was a safe guy to be around, there was no guarantee anyone else would react the same way. He paced back and forth across the deck for a few minutes, while Kate stood by and waited for his answer, while he thought long and hard. He couldn't run back down stairs and tell Eddy, since he told her he was the only on who boarded the ship illegally. But if she was willing to hide him for the next two weeks, and if she was needing to tell one other trustworthy person about him and Eddy, then he was goign to have to tell her about him.

"Kate," he said quietly, stopping his pacing pattern and walking over to her. "I have to be honest with you about something," She looked at him intently waiting for him to continue. "I have a friend who came with me living in my cabin on the fiesta deck. His name is Eddy and he has the same reason for being on board as I do. " He looked at her still, none changing expression on her face. It wasn't an angry one, but a puzzled one and perhaps one of dread. "Why didn't you tell me there was one other guy with you?" She asked, sounding a little bit stressed. "Because, you already where freaked out over me, how was I to know how you would react to two ex cons on board?" "Good point," she looked out at the sea and thought long and hard about this new situation she was now in. Not only did she need to tell Michael about Jack being on board, but now she had to tell him _two_ ex cons where on board. And to top it all off, she had to cinvince him somehow they weren't a threat. _What do I do?_ She wondered, staring blankly out to the sea. She looked back at Jack after making a decision. "Okay, I'm _definitely _going to need to have to tell my co worker about you, but don't worry, he's a great friend of mine. Annoying sometimes, but a good friend. Just let your buddy downstair know what I want to do, and let me know if it's okay." Jack walked right up to her and replied, "It's fine, go ahead and tell him about us." He felt as if he was making to quick of a decision, but his gut told him to do it. She was puzzled by his sudden change of thought.

"Are you sure your comfortable with this Jack?" She asked. "Of course, I need all the help I can get to pass through smoothly. Just let me know once you've told him. How about tomorrow at five o clock in the evening you come by and see me, and let me know how he took it." She nodded her head in response. "Okay, tell me which room your staying in so I can keep a closer eye on it for you." She asked, taking out a notepad and a pen to write donw his rooms number and location. It's on he fiesta deck, the fhird hallway at the end of the of the hall on the right." He explained. She quickly wrote down her information. And placed her notes back in her back pocket.

The two parted ways and went back to their original posts. Jack in his room, Kate back at work. Swhile she walked across the deck, she went through her mind what on earth she could say to Michael to stop him from freaking out about Jack. How would he take it? Well, she was going to find out soon.


End file.
